jay.conley@roanoke.com 981-3114

The Bedford County School Board has voted to enter into negotiations with a consultant that will examine three proposals to either renovate Jefferson Forest High School or build a new high school in the Forest area of the county.

After interviewing five consulting agencies Thursday, the school board chose Construction Dynamics Group, a Maryland-based partnership, as the board's first choice to review the proposals. If a suitable contract can't be agreed on with the partnership, the school board chose Rife & Wood Architects of Roanoke as a second choice.

The three unsolicited proposals for the high school projects were submitted in June and July by First Choice Public-Private Partners LLC, a partnership between English Construction Co. in Lynchburg and Richmond-based Moseley Architects, and a partnership involving Appomattox-based J.E. Jamerson & Sons and Lynchburg-based Southern Air Inc.

The proposals were accepted for review after the school board in May rejected a $38 million plan to renovate and expand Jefferson Forest. Board members said that was too much money to invest in the aging, overcrowded school, which is on land with few options for proper expansion. The project was designed by the Roanoke architectural firm Hayes Seay Mattern & Mattern to hold 1,400 students.

Under the state's Public-Private Educational Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002, school systems can benefit from public-private proposals by not having to pay costly fees upfront for architectural and engineering work. Contractors often guarantee a completion date for the projects and agree to pay for any cost overruns.

The two partnerships paid the school system a $25,000 review fee for each proposal, which the school system will use to pay whichever consulting firm agrees to a contract with the school board.

Both First Choice and Jamerson & Sons have said their plans are a more cost-effective alternative to the rejected $38 million plan.

Because school systems that accept unsolicited bids must give competing contractors 45 days to also submit bids, Bedford County school officials won't say how much money the partnerships are proposing to charge for the projects.

The school board will review the the consultant's evaluations of the proposals Sept. 16. At the board's Sept. 23 meeting, it will announce if any of the proposals are being considered in more detail, at which time school officials will request more specific cost estimates, said Brenda Edson, public relations coordinator for Bedford County Schools.

First Choice has offered two proposals: Under one plan, a combined middle school and high school would be built in the county's industrial park on U.S. 460, and Jefferson Forest would be renovated to serve up to 1,000 students. Its other proposal is to build a new high school on 50 acres next to Jefferson Forest High and use the current athletic fields at Jefferson Forest.

Jamerson & Sons president Phillip Jamerson has said his company could renovate Jefferson Forest at a cost significantly lower than previous proposals.